As technologies continue to advance in cellular phones, mobile handheld devices have become a useful tool to some people and a necessity to others. Some cellular phones have the computational power and storage capacity that is on par with laptop computers. The operating systems running on these mobile communication devices likewise have become quite sophisticated, capable of handling many functions that are typical of a standard personal computer (PC). Such powerful mobile communication devices are often referred to as “smartphones.”
Around the globe, people have come to rely on smartphones. This reliance often raises many issues. For example, today's smartphones make it very easy for a user to initiate a call to another person whose number is stored in the user's contact list without having to memorize the other person's phone number(s). If a user's mobile communication device is lost, stolen, shattered, dropped in water, has a dead battery, or suffers from a serious technical issue or mishap, the user may have no access to their contact list (also referred to herein as “contacts”) as the contact list may become lost and not be recoverable unless a backup of the contact list was stored elsewhere. This is problematic as most smartphone users rely on the contact identifier or other shortcut made available through the devices, rather than actual memorization of the contact's number or other information. Currently, there is no extremely simple and convenient or timely way for one to store and retrieve one's contacts outside of the user's mobile communication device. Additionally, even if the user were able to recover his or her contact list, for instance, by purchasing another mobile communication device or smartphone and then syncing the new smartphone with a backup stored on a personal computer or other backup device, this is not a timely, simple or convenient solution for most users. In some cases, the lack of a simple and timely solution can be extremely problematic, particularly when the user has an urgent need to call someone (e.g., a loved one, baby sitter, colleague, etc.), but does not remember that person's phone number and is nowhere near the PC or other device where the user's backup contact list may be stored.